Advanced screw press technology for Bribie Island WWTP

Hydroflux Industrial Pty Ltd
Thursday, 01 March, 2018


Advanced screw press technology for Bribie Island WWTP

Hydroflux Epco has recently completed an upgrade of Bribie Island sewage treatment plant’s entire sludge management facility.

A key part of the upgrade involved installing new HUBER QPRESS® Rotary Screw Presses to replace the old belt press technology.

“While there are over 1,200 of these unique sludge dewatering machines being used in many applications worldwide, the installation at Bribie Island is the latest in Australia which is evidence of their outstanding performance in local conditions,” says John Koumoukelis, Director at Hydroflux.

“The latest generation of these screw presses — the HUBER QPRESS — is proving very popular in both the Australian and international markets. This is because not only does it reduce sludge volumes and disposal costs by up to 80% but also because it is more efficient and can be operated at even higher solids throughputs than older technologies such as belt presses.

“Our customers are choosing these over centrifuges because of their performance — with the lowest energy demand compared with centrifuges, we spin at 0.5 rpm compared with 3000 rpm of centrifuges — and significantly less maintenance compared with centrifuges. The power demand is 90% less.

“When you add in the fact we achieve 95% capture or better without the use of downstream screens, it is little wonder that in our view these are the best screw presses in the Australian market,” he adds.

At Bribie Island, Hydroflux Epco managed the process, mechanical, electrical and civil design as well as the site installation works, site testing, performance testing and training. The upgrade also included ancillary services such as the control system and SCADA integration, polyelectrolyte batching and dosing, and solids transfer.

Luis Bastos, Director of Hydroflux Epco, said that there were a number of reasons why HUBER screw presses were chosen for the upgrade of the sewage treatment plant.

“First, disposing of sludge is expensive in terms of transport so reducing the amount of sludge helps drive down costs.

“Second, HUBER technology is very slow speed — the average is 0.5 RPMs — so it is very low in energy demand and, because of the low screw speed, it is high in operational reliability with virtually no maintenance.

“Third, it sits within a compact and fully-enclosed system so it is WHS-compliant.

“Fourth it has very low operational costs and it requires minimal operator attention,” Luis adds.

Performance testing demonstrated significantly higher performance than the existing belt press, with cake solids in excess of 18% dry solids. The capture rate was consistently 95% or better, as we size our equipment to achieve high capture without the need for secondary filtration. And this was achieved even though the feed solids was generally only between 6000 and 8000 mg/L.

This HUBER QPRESS installation is one of many that Hydroflux are delivering for Australian clients. The positive experience at Bribie Island WWTP has been encountered at other Australian installations, for both municipal and industrial applications.

Visit www.hydrofluxepco.com.au for further information or contact us on 1300 417 697.

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